Kostas Mitroglou hands Benfica the edge against Borussia Dortmund

Full-time: Benfica 1-0 Dortmund

It’s a cherished victory for Benfica, who were overrun for long periods but hung on in there and took their chance to score when it came. Dortmund will be furious at the number of chances they missed - including a penalty - but will know they still have an excellent chance of winning the tie.

Sokratis and Andre Schuerrle of Dortmund look dejected at the end of the match. Photograph: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images

87 min: Dembélé takes an outswinging corner from the right. It’s headed clear to Pulisic, who essays another volley, this time after trapping the ball on his chest. But his attempt from 25 yards flies over the bar.

83 min: What a save! A corner was cleared to the edge of the area, where Pulisic met it with a lovely volley. It deflected off Jimenez to add extra difficulty for the keeper, who adjusted his feet with lightning speed and threw out his right hand to turn the ball around the post!

73 min: Salvio gets a rowdy standing ovation for flipping the ball past Schmelzer and drawing a foul on half-way. That’s a yellow card for the Dortmund player and respite for Benfica, who’ve been practically on all-out defence since scoring.

65 min: Freekick to Dortmund just outside the Benfica box, near the bye-line. Guerreiro seemingly goes for goal despite the acute angle. Benfica suppress their laughter and head the ball away with ease.

63 min: Tuchel has evidently decided that Aubameyang isn’t going to come good tonight so he’s hauled the striker off and replaced him with Schürrle. A ballsy call by the beleaguered manager, and a good one, too. Can’t keep forgiving misses that border on negligence.

Aubameyang misses the penalty !

Or, to be precise, Ederson saves! The goalkeeper wisely stood still so he was perfectly placed to turn away a feeble effort from the striker, who had foreseen the keeper making it easy for him. He should have had a hat-trick by now but instead Aubameyang has egg on his face.

51 min: Sokratis picks out Aubameyang with a well-disguised low low pass. The striker takes the ball and turns to face the only remaining barrier, the goalkeeper, and then slashes the ball inexplicably high and wide! Just dreadful execution by one of the world’s finest strikers. Poor Thomas Tuchel!

GOAL! Benfica 1-0 Dortmund (Mitroglou 49)

Dortmund are punished for terrible defending from a corner - and those first-half misses. Pizzi delivered an outswinging corner that was met by a header from Luisao near the penalty spot. Burki dived low to block it but could not hold it because of pressure by Mitroglu, who stabbed into the net from close range.

49 min: Benfica discombobulate Dortmund with a dose of their own medicine, pressing the visitors into losing possession near their own box. Nothing comes of the ensuing throw-in but Benfica’s intent is clear: they’re not about to let themselves continue to be pushed around on their own turf.

Half-time: Benfica 0-0 Dortmund

After a wonderful helter-skelter start the match settled into a clear pattern: Dortmund dominating possession, Benfica defending tenaciously. Much of the Germans’ build-up play has seemed a tad convoluted but they did manage to create two excellent chances, both of which were squandered. Will they improve or be punished in the second half?

40 min: Dembélé chases a ball down the right-hand side of the box. Ederson charges out to try to clear ... but Dembélé beats him to it and nicks the ball past him before being clobbered by the goalkeeper’s swinging foot! Dembélé is hurt - but the official saw nothing untoward and fail to award even a freekick.

38 min: Did someone say dunderheaded? Fejsa tried to shepherd the ball out of play but misjudged badly, allowing Guerreiro to stretch out of a foot and swipe the ball across the face of goal. Fortunately for Benfica no other Dortmund player had anticipated such a development, so there was no one on hand to tap the ball into the net.

32 min: The match is now taking place almost exclusively in the Benfica half, and the ball is almost exclusively in the possession of Dortmund. Benfica’s players have formed a dense central cluster, effectively ceding the flanks to the visitors - but Dortmund are concentrating most of their efforts on trying to pick a way through the middle.

27 min: Freekick to Dortmund wide on the left following a foul on Schmelzer. They take it short and resume circulating the ball in zesty fashion. But Benfica stop their progress before they reach the box.

24 min: After a delay caused by the need for a couple of players to get a rub-down, Reus swings in a corner. Ederson punches it about 30 yards clear. Schmelzer retrieves the ball and is ambushed by the wacky idea that he could smash it into the net from that distance. He missed, by the length of a team bus.

21 min: Dortmund are in danger of over-rruning Benfica, whose defending is becoming increasingly desperate. After sustained pressure from the Germans, Reus pulls the ball back from the left-hand bye-line. Dembélé collects it about 10 yards out and tries to fire a low shot into the net. But Lindelof and the goalkeeper throw themselves at it and deflected it out for a corner.

17 min: For all the excitement and attacking bravado we’ve seen so far, there’s yet to be a shot on target. That’ll change soon, for sure, and the odds are on most of them coming from Dortmund, who are starting to take control of possession, leaving the hosts to retreat and play for counter-attacks.

14 min: This match is clattering along at such an engrossing pace that I’ve hardly had time to check the scores elsewhere - but I see that Ipswich are beating Brighton and Rotherham are leading against Huddersfield. If anyone fancies adding flesh to those intriguing bones, please do get in touch.

12 min: Dembélé is playing centrally. You wouldn’t quite say that he’s the team’s playmaker but they sure do look for him a lot. And there’s a very good reason for that: this is a phenomenally talented 19-year-old.

10 min: Dortmund’s high pressing pays off as Dembélé wins possession mid-way inside the home half. He then shows his precocious calmness and vision by threading a slick pass through to Aubameyang, who races clear on goal. He lets fly from the edge of the area, aiming for the top corner as the keeper advances towards him. But he lifted the ball too high and whizzes over the bar. A glorious chances wasted! But he’ll definitely get more, the way this game is going.

5 min: This is already living up to its billing: the match is being played at a cracking pace and with high-class skill - and both teams very open. Sokratis almost scored the first goal just now but tonked a shot over from 18 yards after feinting his way past Schmelzer.

3 min: Semedo produces a lovely flourish of skill to take him past an opponent deep in his own half, then he races forward, exchanges passes with Salvio and delivers a cross that’s turned behind for a corner.

1 min: We have kickoff! Dortmund got the first touch but didn’t hold on to possession for long. In fact, they were under pressure before even a minute had elapsed, as Salvio hurtled down the right and tricked his way past Durm. Dortmund scrambled sufficiently to clear his cross.

The teams stride on to the pitch and take their place in front a huge and majestic banner of an eagle clasping the European Cup. Underneath is the slogan “Vence Por Nos” [“Win for Us”]. It looks brilliant, and the aural accompaniment from the home fans is equally rousing. With an atmosphere like this it would be rude of the players not to put on a show.

Thomas Tuchel is a manager under pressure today, with some in the German media organs suggesting he could be given Das Boot if Dortmund fail to progress and some English media organs suggesting he’s in line to replace Arsène Wenger at Arsenal. Dortmund are currently fourth in the Bundesliga so you can see why such talk may have come about.

Preamble (the reprise)

Hello and welcome to a match that needs an introduction, it turns out. So here’s the lie of the land: Dortmund seemed like one of Europe’s most dazzling teams a couple of months ago and scored goals at a rate never seen outside comic books, an unprecedented 21 in the group stage alone, albeit mostly against Legia Warsaw, whom they took extreme pleasure in whipping. Since the turn of the year, however, Dortmund have been on the slide, especially away from home, and they arrive in Portugal on the back of a mortifying 2-1 loss against Bundesliga waifs Darmstadt. That’s no sort of form to bring to Benfica, who are in bullying mood on home turf and are fairly prolific scorers themselves - especially Kostas Mitroglu, who has scored 12 goals in his last 12 matches and must feel like that spell at Fulham was just a crazy nightmare. Both sides have injury concerns ahead of the game - don’t worry, we’ll inspect the lineups presently - but the signs are that this is going to be an all-action goalfest. That’s an ironclad MBM guarantee right there, and you can have your money back if we’re wrong.